Group items tagged

Effective Ways to Use Authentic Materials with ESL/EFL StudentsBy Charles Kelly, Lawrence Kelly, Mark Offner and Bruce VorlandAuthentic Materials and Cultural Content in EFL ClassroomsBy Ferit KilickayaUsing Creative Thinking to Find New Uses for RealiaBy Simon Mumford

My Philosophy for Teaching English for BusinessBy Lawrence BaronUsing Authentic Business Transcripts in the ESL ClassroomBy Jonathan CliftonTeaching Business Communication to LEP StudentsBy Ken LauFrameworking in Business English ClassesBy John AdamsonTeaching Tips for ESL University Business English InstructorsBy William BrooksMethodology for Using Case Studies in the Business English Language ClassroomBy Peter Daly

Matching Teaching Styles with Learning Styles in East Asian ContextsBy Rao ZhenhuiTeam Teaching Tips for Foreign Language TeachersBy Rebecca Benoit and Bridget HaughThe Importance of Eye Contact in the ClassroomBy Robert Ledbury, Ian White and Steve Darn

Three Activities to Promote Learners' AutonomyBy Galina KavaliauskienëGetting Students Actively Involved Using "The Mistake Buster" TechniqueBy Hai K.P. Huynh

Perpetual Motion: Keeping the Language Classroom MovingA technique that allows students to practice with as many different partners as possible.By Christopher KelenInteresting Ways to Call Roll in JapanBy Lawrence KlepingerLet Your Students Teach Their ClassBy Naoyoshi Ogawa and Dennis WilkinsonEncouraging Students to Interact with the TeacherBy Roger NunnWhat to Do with Failing StudentsBy Marty DawleyCultural Kickboxing in the ESL Classroom: Encouraging Active ParticipationBy Jan Guidry LacinaA Group Introduction Activity to Create a Safe AtmosphereBy Clay Bussinger

Using Presentation Software to Enhance Language LearningBy Miriam Schcolnik and Sara KolQuick Tips for the CALL LaboratoryBy Brian Cullen and John MorrisUsing PowerPoint for ESL TeachingBy Don L. Fisher

Encouraging English Expression through Script-based ImprovisationsBy Manette R. BerlingerTeaching Conversation Skills With Content Based MaterialsBy Greg GoodmacherUsing Pair TapingBy Peter H. SchneiderTeaching Conversation Strategies Through Pair-TapingBy Nancy Washburn and Kiel ChristiansonBoosting Speaking Fluency through Partner TapingBy David E. Kluge and Matthew A. TaylorOvercoming Chinese-English Colloquial Habits in WritingBy Ted KnoyCommunicative Language Teaching in a Multimedia Language LabBy Shih-Jen Huang and Hsiao-Fang LiuIt's on the Cards: Adapting a Board-game Communicative ActivityBy Bob Gibson Leaving the Room: An Introduction to Theme-Based Oral EnglishBy Stewart Wachs

The Talking Stick: An American Indian Tradition in the ESL ClassroomBy Kimberly FujiokaRole Playing/SimulationBy Patricia K. TompkinsBrainstorming Before Speaking TasksBy Brian CullenTeach Students to Interact, Not Just TalkBy Gerard CounihanFive Steps to Using Your Textbook to Build a More Dynamic EFL Conversation ClassBy Stephen B. RyanDialog Performances: Developing Effective Communication Strategies for Non-English Majors in Japanese UniversitiesBy Susan Gilfert and Robert CrokerOvercoming Common Problems Related to Communicative MethodologyBy Stephen B. RyanDesigning Simple Interactive Tasks for Small GroupsBy Roger NunnTips for Teaching Conversation in the Multilingual ESL ClassroomBy Cara PulickTeaching "How are You" to ESL StudentsBy Brendan DalyUsing Games to Promote Communicative Skills in Language LearningBy Chen, I-JungFacilitating English Conversation Development in Large ClassroomsBy Gerry GibsonHelping EFL/ESL Students by Asking Quality QuestionsBy Nasreen HussainSuccessful Classroom Discussions with Adult Korean ESL/EFL LearnersBy Hye-Yeon Lim & W. I. GriffithIncreasing Authentic Speech in Classroom DiscussionsBy Georgia SmyrniouDesigning Simple Interactive Tasks for Small GroupsBy Roger NunnA Practical and Effective Way to Enhance the ESL Students' Oral CompetenceBy Yichu Qi

Practical Techniques for Teaching Culture in the EFL ClassroomBy Brian Cullen and Kazuyoshi SatoRole Play in Teaching Culture: Six Quick Steps for Classroom ImplementationBy Maria A. KodotchigovaCompliments: Integrating Cultural Values into Oral English ClassesBy Chou, Yen-LinRole Play in Teaching Culture: Six Quick Steps for Classroom ImplementationBy Maria A. KodotchigovaGuidelines to Evaluate Cultural Content in TextbooksBy Ferit Kilickaya

Drama Techniques for Teaching EnglishBy Vani Chauhan

Using Picture Dictation Exercises for Practising All Four SkillsBy Sylvia Sao Leng IeongTeaching the Four Skills in the Primary EFL ClassroomBy Marcos Peñate Cabrera and Plácido Bazo

The Structural Drill in Remedial TeachingBy Felix MosesClassroom Techniques for Contextualization:How to make "This is a pen." a pragmatically motivated utterance.By Yoshinori SasakiA Technique for Practising Conditional SentencesBy Galina KavaliauskieneGrammar Correction in ESL/EFL Writing Classes May Not Be EffectiveBy Ronald GrayDoing Things with Sentences in the ESL ClassroomBy Simon MumfordTeaching ESL Students to "Notice" GrammarBy Francis J. Noonan IIIUsing Simple Poems to Teach GrammarBy Hawanum HusseinCommunicative Grammar -- It's Time to Talk.By Noriko NishiguchiEmpowering English Teachers to Grapple with Errors in GrammarBy Caroline Mei Lin HoHelping Students with ModalsBy Michael ThompsonA Technique for Practising Conditional SentencesBy Galina Kavaliauskiene

Using Humour in the Second Language ClassroomBy Paul-Emile Chiasson

Redesigning Non-Task-Based Materials to Fit a Task-Based FrameworkBy Kevin RooneyA Holistic Classroom Activity - The Class SurveyBy Roger NunnThree Activities to Promote Learners' AutonomyBy Galina Kavaliauskienë

75 ESL Teaching IdeasBy Hall Houston

Music and Song in DiscussionBy Brian CullenSong DictationBy Brian CullenTeaching Phrasal Verbs Using SongsBy Subrahmanian UpendranHelping Prospective EFL Teachers Learn How to Use Songs in Teaching Conversation ClassesBy Natalia F. OrlovaFocused Listening with SongsBy Isaiah WonHo Yoo

Getting the Most from Textbook Listening ActivitiesBy Thomas LavelleTraining for Impromptu Speaking and Testing Active Listening With a Focus on Japanese StudentsBy Cecilia B-IkeguchiDictation DrawingBy Brian GroverReal Audio to Augment Real Listening in the ESL ClassroomBy Frank TuziSelf-Instruction by Audio CassetteBy John SmallDictation as a Language Learning DeviceBy Scott AlkireFocused Listening with SongsBy Isaiah WonHo YooListening Activities for Effective Top-down ProcessingBy Ji LingzhuDictation as a Language Learning DeviceBy Scott Alkire

Sustaining an Interest in Learning English and Increasing the Motivation to Learn English: An Enrichment ProgramBy Supyan Hussin, Nooreiny Maarof, and J. V. D'CruzHelping ESL Learners to See Their Own ImprovementBy Upendran SubrahmanianCommunicating SuccessBy Trevor SargentCreative and Critical Thinking in Language ClassroomsBy Muhammad Kamarul KabilanLearner Training for Learner Autonomy on Summer Language CoursesBy Ciarán P. McCarthyEncouraging Students to Become Stakeholders in the ESL ClassroomBy Karen BordonaroMotivation in the ESL ClassroomBy William T. Lile

Using the Internet in ESL Writing InstructionBy Jarek KrajkaSome Possibilities for Using On-line Newspapers in the ESL ClassroomBy Jarek KrajkaGetting Your Class ConnectedSome ideas on using e-mail and homepages.By Dennis E. WilkinsonActivities for Using Junk Email in the ESL/EFL ClassroomBy Suggested ways to use junk mail and some ready-to-use handouts for the classroom.By Michael IvyLet the E-mail Software Do the Work: Time Saving Features for the Writing TeacherBy Ron BelisleDiscussion Forums for ESL LearningBy Peter ConnellReport on a Penpal Project, and Tips for Penpal-Project SuccessBy Vera MelloUsing E-mail in Foreign Language Teaching: Rationale and SuggestionsBy Margaret Gonglewski, Christine Meloni and Jocelyne BrantHow to Build a Multimedia Website for Language StudyBy Randall S. DavisMaking Chat Activities with Native Speakers Meaningful for EFL LearnersBy Jo MynardInteractivity Tools in Online LearningBy Chien-Ching LeeTeaching Search Engines to ESL Students: Avoiding the AvalancheBy Kirsten LincolnTeaching EFL/ESL Students How to Use Search Engines and Develop their EnglishBy Rupert HeringtonInteractivity Tools in Online LearningBy Chien-Ching LeeMaking Chat Activities with Native Speakers Meaningful for EFL LearnersBy Jo MynardHow to Build a Multimedia Website for Language StudyBy Randall S. DavisQuick Tips for the CALL LaboratoryBy Brian Cullen and John MorrisCreating a Learning Community Through Electronic JournalingBy Anne BollatiA Model of Team Teaching in a Web-mediated EAP CourseBy Mihye Harker & Dimitra KoutsantoniUsing LiveJournal for Authentic Communication in EFL ClassesBy Aaron Patric CampbellWeblogs for Use with ESL ClassesBy Aaron Patric Campbell

Some Techniques for Teaching PronunciationBy David F. DaltonTesting Some Suprasegmental Features of English SpeechBy Mehmet CelikTeaching English Intonation to EFL/ESLStudentsBy Mehmet CelikReverse Accent Mimicry: An Accent Reduction Technique for Second Language LearnersBy Laurence M. HiltonA Quick Way to Improve /r/ and /l/ PronunciationBy Tim GreerTeaching English Intonation to EFL/ESLStudentsBy Mehmet Celik

Teaching Debate to ESL Students: A Six-Class UnitBy Daniel KriegerGuiding ESL Students Towards Independent Speech MakingBy Françoise Nunn and Roger NunnA Genre Approach to Oral PresentationsBy Fiona Webster

Teaching EFL/ESL Students How to Read Time and NewsweekBy J. Ignacio BermejoGraffiti for ESL ReadersDescribes an activity using content-based articles.By Brent BuhlerReading and Writing through Neuro-Linguistic ProgrammingBy Tom MaguireHow to Read Nonfictional English Text Faster and More EffectivelyBy Helmut StiefenhöferWhat Do We Test When We Test Reading Comprehension?By Akmar MohamadTeaching ESL Reading Using ComputersBy Saad AlKahtaniAn Integrated Approach to Teaching Literature in the EFL ClassroomBy Christine SavvidouA Fun Reading Quiz GameBy Madhavi Gayathri RamanReading Aloud (Out Loud) in Conversational English Classes By Derek KellyUsing Children's Literature with Young LearnersBy Eowyn BrownUsing News Stories in the ESL ClassroomBy Robin Antepara

A Method for Oral Testing in University English Programs at Korean UniversitiesBy David B. KentMeasuring Word Recognition Using a PictureBy Jungok Bae

Developing Film Study GuidesBy Donna Hurst TatsukiDeveloping an English for Specific Purposes Course Using a Learner Centered Approach: A Russian ExperienceBy Pavel V. SysoyevVideotaping an English Mini-drama in Your ClassroomBy David G. MagnussonUsing CNN News Video in the EFL ClassroomBy Alan S. MackenzieContent Video in the EFL ClassroomBy Michael FurmanovskyCaptioned Video: Making it Work for YouBy Randall S. DavisUsing Movie Trailers in an ESL CALL ClassBy John GebhardtVideo Production in the Foreign Language Classroom: Some Practical IdeasBy Sebastian Brooke

Personal Vocabulary NotesBy Joshua KurzweilLearner-centered Vocabulary Building PracticeBy Sadia Yasser AliA Learner-Centred Approach to Vocabulary Review Using BingoBy Galina KavaliauskienëSongs, Verse and Games for Teaching GrammarBy Arif Saricoban & Esen MetinDeductive & Inductive Lessons for Saudi EFL Freshmen StudentsBy Mohammed Y. Al-KharratWarm-up Exercises in Listening ClassesBy Zhang Yi JunGetting Japanese Children to Make Use of Naturally-sounding English in the ClassroomBy Junko YamamotoVocabulary Teaching Using Student-Written DialoguesBy Alice Dana Delaney WalkerTeaching Vocabulary to Japanese Students: A Lexical ApproachBy Kwabena AsareDrilling Can Be FunBy Simon MumfordThe Use of Corpora in the Vocabulary ClassroomBy Yu Hua ChenBuilding Vocabulary Through Prefixes, Roots & SuffixesBy William PittmanPersonal Vocabulary NotesBy Joshua KurzweilTeaching Vocabulary to Japanese Students: A Lexical ApproachBy Kwabena AsareMeasuring Word Recognition Using a PictureBy Jungok Bae

Secret Partner Journals for Motivation, Fluency and FunBy Timothy StewartReading and Writing through Neuro-Linguistic ProgrammingBy Tom MaguireA Peer Review Activity for Essay OrganizationBy Bob GibsonMaking Jigsaw Activities Using Newspaper ArticlesBy David DycusUsing Postcards in the ClassroomBy Peter LobellLess Is More: Summary Writing and Sentence Structure in the Advanced ESL ClassroomBy George L. GreaneyTeaching Integrated Writing SkillsBy Cecilia B-IkeguchiCorrecting Students' WritingBy Bryan MurphyUsing E-mail in EFL Writing ClassesBy Eui-Kap LeeApproaching Writing Skills through Fairy TalesBy Silvia BrutiTeaching ESL/EFL Students to Write BetterBy Yesim CimcozEnglish Writing Program for Engineering StudentsBy Hui Mien TanFreewriting, Prompts and FeedbackBy Kenneth J. DicksonPortfolios and Process Writing: A Practical ApproachBy Simon ReaInteractive Writing in the EFL Class: A Repertoire of TasksBy María Palmira Massi

Using Cooperative Learning to Integrate Thinking and Information Technology in a Content-Based Writing LessonBy Gabriel Tan, Patrick B Gallo, George M Jacobs and Christine Kim-Eng LeeEncouraging Engineering Students to Write Simple EssaysBy Thevy RajaretnamIntegrating Writing with ReadingBy Yang ShuyingThe Process Writing MethodBy Daniel J. JarvisSuggestions for Evaluating ESL Writing HolisticallyBy Matthew W. CurrierDeveloping Writing Skills in a Foreign Language via the InternetBy Roger C. KenworthyCreating a Writing Course Utilizing Class and Student BlogsBy Andrew JohnsonA Fun Way to Generate Ideas for Comparison ParagraphsBy Melodie CookSeeing is Understanding: Improving Coherence in Students' Writing By Chien-Ching LeeDeveloping Task-based Writing with Adolescent EFL StudentsBy Maria CabralProviding Feedback on ESL Students' Written AssignmentsBy Jason Gordon WilliamsSimple Steps to Successful Revision in L2 WritingBy Catherine ColemanTeaching TESOL Undergraduates to Organize and Write Literature ReviewsBy Roberto CriolloThe Process Writing MethodBy Daniel J. JarvisIntegrating Writing with ReadingBy Yang ShuyingEncouraging Engineering Students to Write Simple EssaysBy Thevy Rajaretnam

Maximizing Study Trips AbroadBy Howard HigaThe Application of Universal Instructional Design to ESL TeachingBy Kregg C. StrehornBaFa BaFa: Does it Work with University EFL Learners?By Donald Glenn CarrollA Tutor-Guided Learning Scheme in a Self-Access CentreBy Lai Lai KwanImproving Science Students' Fluency through Project WorkBy Nebila Dhieb-HeniaUsing Service-Learning as Part of an ESL ProgramBy James M. MinorIncorporating Critical Thinking Skills Development into ESL/EFL CoursesBy Andy HalvorsenHelping ESL Learners to Minimize Collocational ErrorsBy Rotimi TaiwoUsing Concept Maps to Gauge Students' UnderstandingBy Lee Chien ChingContent Based ESL Curriculum and Academic Language ProficiencyBy Clara Lee BrownUsing Pictures from MagazinesBy Joep van der WerffEnhancing Critical Thinking with Structured Controversial DialoguesBy Hanizah Zainuddin & Rashid A. MooreUsing Expectations to Improve LearningBy Gena BennettIntegrating Language Learning Strategy Instruction into ESL/EFL LessonsBy Catherine Y. KinoshitaUsing Checklists to "Standardise" ContentBy Chien-Ching LeeGames in the ESL and EFL ClassBy Angkana DeesriOvercoming Common Problems Related to Communicative MethodologyBy Stephen B. Ryan

(a) In a world undergoing rapid changes, there is a perceived need for a new vision and paradigm of higher education, which should be student-oriented, calling in most countries for in-depth reforms and an open access policy so as to cater for ever more diversified categories of people, and of its contents, methods, practices and means of delivery, based on new types of links and partnerships with the community and with the broadest sectors of society.

new information technology does not reduce the need for teachers but changes their role in relation to the learning process and that the continuous dialogue that converts information into knowledge and understanding becomes fundamental.

(d) New methods of education will also imply new types of teaching-learning materials. These have to be coupled with new methods of testing that will promote not only powers of memory but also powers of comprehension, skills for practical work and creativity.

(b) Higher education institutions should educate students to become well informed and deeply motivated citizens, who can think critically, analyse problems of society, look for solutions to the problems of society, apply them and accept social responsibilities.

Higher education institutions should lead in drawing on the advantages and potential of new information and communication technologies, ensuring quality and maintaining high standards for education practices and outcomes in a spirit of openness, equity and international co-operation by:

"[And] it was extremely hard combining family and career," Bell Burnell said, partly because the university where she worked while pregnant had no provisions for maternity leave.

Born in 1922 in the Bronx, Esther Lederberg would grow up to lay the groundwork for future discoveries on genetic inheritance in bacteria, gene regulation, and genetic recombination.A microbiologist, she is perhaps best known for discovering a virus that infects bacteria—called the lambda bacteriophage—in 1951, while at the University of Wisconsin.Lederberg, along with her first husband Joshua Lederberg, also developed a way to easily transfer bacterial colonies from one petri dish to another, called replica plating, which enabled the study of antibiotic resistance. The Lederberg method is still in use today.Joshua Lederberg's work on replica plating played a part in his 1958 Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine, which he shared with George Beadle and Edward Tatum."She deserved credit for the discovery of lambda phage, her work on the F fertility factor, and, especially, replica plating," wrote Stanley Falkow, a retired microbiologist at Stanford University, in an email. But she didn't receive it.

Lise Meitner's work in nuclear physics led to the discovery of nuclear fission—the fact that atomic nuclei can split in two. That finding laid the groundwork for the atomic bomb.Her story is a complicated tangle of sexism, politics, and ethnicity.After finishing her doctoral degree in physics at the University of Vienna, Meitner moved to Berlin in 1907 and started collaborating with chemist Otto Hahn. They maintained their working relationship for more than 30 years.After the Nazis annexed Austria in March 1938, Meitner, who was Jewish, made her way to Stockholm, Sweden. She continued to work with Hahn, corresponding and meeting secretly in Copenhagen in November of that year.Although Hahn performed the experiments that produced the evidence supporting the idea of nuclear fission, he was unable to come up with an explanation. Meitner and her nephew, Otto Frisch, came up with the theory.Hahn published their findings without including Meitner as a co-author, although several accounts say Meitner understood this omission, given the situation in Nazi Germany."That's the start of how Meitner got separated from the credit of discovering nuclear fission," said Lewin Sime, who wrote a biography of Meitner.

Chien-Shiung Wu overturned a law of physics and participated in the development of the atom bomb.Wu was recruited to Columbia University in the 1940s as part of the Manhattan Project and conducted research on radiation detection and uranium enrichment. She stayed in the United States after the war and became known as one of the best experimental physicists of her time, said Nina Byers, a retired physics professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.In the mid-1950s, two theoretical physicists, Tsung-Dao Lee and Chen Ning Yang, approached Wu to help disprove the law of parity. The law holds that in quantum mechanics, two physical systems—like atoms—that were mirror images would behave in identical ways.Wu's experiments using cobalt-60, a radioactive form of the cobalt metal, upended this law, which had been accepted for 30 years.This milestone in physics led to a 1957 Nobel Prize for Yang and Lee—but not for Wu, who was left out despite her critical role. "People found [the Nobel decision] outrageous," said Byers.Pnina Abir-Am, a historian of science at Brandeis University, agreed, adding that ethnicity also played a role.

Rosalind Franklin used x-rays to take a picture of DNA that would change biology.Hers is perhaps one of the most well-known—and shameful—instances of a researcher being robbed of credit, said Lewin Sime.Franklin graduated with a doctorate in physical chemistry from Cambridge University in 1945, then spent three years at an institute in Paris where she learned x-ray diffraction techniques, or the ability to determine the molecular structures of crystals. (Learn more about her education and qualifications.)She returned to England in 1951 as a research associate in John Randall's laboratory at King's College in London and soon encountered Maurice Wilkins, who was leading his own research group studying the structure of DNA.Franklin and Wilkins worked on separate DNA projects, but by some accounts, Wilkins mistook Franklin's role in Randall's lab as that of an assistant rather than head of her own project.Meanwhile, James Watson and Francis Crick, both at Cambridge University, were also trying to determine the structure of DNA. They communicated with Wilkins, who at some point showed them Franklin's image of DNA—known as Photo 51—without her knowledge.Photo 51 enabled Watson, Crick, and Wilkins to deduce the correct structure for DNA, which they published in a series of articles in the journal Nature in April 1953. Franklin also published in the same issue, providing further details on DNA's structure.Franklin's image of the DNA molecule was key to deciphering its structure, but only Watson, Crick, and Wilkins received the 1962 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for their work.

Nettie Stevens performed studies crucial in determining that an organism's sex was dictated by its chromosomes rather than environmental or other factors.After receiving her doctorate from Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, Stevens continued at the college as a researcher studying sex determination.By working on mealworms, she was able to deduce that the males produced sperm with X and Y chromosomes—the sex chromosomes—and that females produced reproductive cells with only X chromosomes. This was evidence supporting the theory that sex determination is directed by an organism's genetics.A fellow researcher, named Edmund Wilson, is said to have done similar work, but came to the same conclusion later than Stevens did.Stevens fell victim to a phenomenon known as the Matilda Effect—the repression or denial of the contributions of female researchers to science.Thomas Hunt Morgan, a prominent geneticist at the time, is often credited with discovering the genetic basis for sex determination, said Pomona College's Hoopes. He was the first to write a genetics textbook, she noted, and he wanted to magnify his contributions."Textbooks have this terrible tendency to choose the same evidence as other textbooks," she added. And so Stevens' name was not associated with the discovery of sex determination.

the first wife of Albert Einstein should be in this list. People know so little about her, and I think she deserves to be known. 

Vera Rubin, for accurate studies discovering dark matter.

How sadly ironic that the very woman who set the stage for the  DNA structure discovery, which in 1994 helped make it possible to genetically test and confirm BRCA carriers like Angelina Jolie and me (with familial cancer holocausts generation, after generation, after generation), did not have access the test that could have saved her life so she could go on with the research she loved and win a Nobel Prize.

These schools were initiated under the programs of the Ministry of Social Welfare with the help of religious missionaries. Malaysia entered its second stage when professional preparation programs for special education were formally established by the Ministry of Education in 1961. Lacking its own expertise and technology, Malaysia entered its third stage when it began importing knowledge and expertise by sending its education professionals abroad for research degrees and in-service attachments in special needs education in the 1980s and 1990s, and attempting to customize what was learned to its national conditions. Malaysia’s participation in international workshops and activities of the UN and UNESCO and subsequent reforms as reflected in the Education Act (1998) describes the active development of policy and changes in practices during this period. In 1993, the first preservice teacher preparation leading to a Bachelor of Education degree program in special needs education was initiated in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. The program was developed alongside a collaborative project in curriculum development with three universities in the United Kingdom, namely, the Universities of Manchester, Birmingham and Cambridge (Jelas, 1996; 1999).

The terms ‘special needs’ introduced in the Education Act 1996 (1998) are defined as follows: “Pupils with special needs’ means pupils with visual impairment or hearing impairment or with learning disabilities” And ‘inclusive education’ is introduced as part of the continuum of services available for children with special needs: “Special education programme” means – A programme which is provided in special schools for pupils with visual impairment or hearing impairment; An integrated programme in general schools for pupils with visual impairment or hearing impairment or with learning disabilities; and An inclusive education programme for pupils with special needs and who are able to attend normal classes together with normal pupils” (Education Act 1996, 1998, p. 341)

However, the eligibility for special education placement is based on the ‘educability’ of children as assessed by a team of professionals. This is documented in the Act, which states: “(1) For government and government-aided schools, pupils with special needs who are educable are eligible to attend the special education programme except for the following pupils: physically handicapped pupils with the mental ability to learn like normal pupils; and pupils with multiple disabilities or with profound physical handicap or severe mental retardation. A pupil with special needs is educable if he is able to manage himself without help and is confirmed by a panel consisting of a medical practitioner, an officer from the MOE and an officer from the Welfare Department of the MWFCD, as capable of undergoing the national educational programme” (Education Act 1996, 1998, p. 342) The eligibility dilemma

While the current public policy for children with special educational needs, particularly those categories of children classified as experiencing ‘learning disabilities’ have access to regular schools as stated in the Act, the ‘educability’ criteria contradicts the goals of providing equal education opportunities as stipulated in the United Nation’s Standard Rules on the Equalisation of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities (1993), The Salamanca Statement (1994) and the Biwako Millenium Framework for Action (UNESCAP, 2002).

Foreign experts are initially relied upon to provide the knowledge and to encourage its development prior to the emergence of a profession within a country. The first professionals to provide services are usually trained abroad. The second stage followed this first stage, in which colleges and universities established programs and departments to teach the discipline and prepare the professionals. The second stage leads to the third stage, in which colleges and universities import developed from abroad to achieve standards that characterised the discipline in more developed nations. During this stage, the concepts, theories and models of implementation found in the more developed countries are taught, applied and tested; some of which may transfer more successfully than others.

Before special programmes were available, students with special needs were described by their characteristics and by the instructional challenges they presented to teachers. When the education system began to respond to the needs of each emerging group of special needs students, services were established and eligibility criteria determined. From that point on, a child was identified (for school and placement purposes) as having or experiencing a ‘special educational need’ and if he or she is “able to manage him or herself without help” (Education Act 1996, 1998), the child will be eligible for a given programme or service. This process was repeated as each new group of special needs students emerged – for example, children with visual and hearing impairments in the 1960s, children with mild intellectual in the 1980s and 1990s, and more recently, children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorders and children with dyslexia.

in the Education Act 1996 (1998) that the perspectives of professionals (“a medical practitioner, an officer from the MOE and an officer from the Welfare Department of the MWFCD” p. 342) have the most power in determining the way children are categorised and whether these children are “capable of undergoing the national educational programme” (Education Act 1996, 1998)

policy makers and professionals continue to see special schools and classes as well as categories as having an important place in provisions. Responses at the Ministerial level revealed an emphasis on diversity and acceptance of human characteristics as problematic and that learning difficulties are technical problems that require specialised discipline knowledge that cannot be dealt with in the “normal classes with normal children” (Education Act 1996, 1998 p. 341).

The National Report on the development of education states: Inclusion in Malaysia subscribed to the concept of placing SEN students into mainstream classes to be educated alongside their peers, either with or without additional support, and within the present school system. This concept of IE (inclusive education) might not be in line with the ideal concept based on “acceptance, belonging and about providing school settings in which all disadvantaged children can be valued equally and be provided with equal educational opportunities … (MOE, 2004, p. 28),

Even though inclusive education was implemented at the policy level more than 10 years ago and school participation has rapidly increased quantitatively, Malaysia is far from reaching its goal of providing “a responsive education path for every child and youth with SEN” (MOE, 2004)

The emphasis on the ability “to cope with mainstream learning” seemed consistent with the integration models that came about in the 1980s. Integration models mainly focused on placing students with mild disabilities, identified and “diagnosed” as having special needs in mainstream schools. In such models, students must adapt to the norms, expectations, styles, routines and practices of the education system instead of the education system adapting to the learner (UNESCO, 2008). The integrated programme is the dominant format for delivering services to special needs students in Malaysia, then and now.

Once placed, few special education students returned to the regular education class on full-time basis. Although the special classroom and special schools continued as options, integrated programmes (placement in regular classrooms) for students with visual and hearing impairments are available with support from the resource teacher

Historically, the disenchantment of many special educators and the concern of the efficacy of the prevailing approach (Ainscow, 1994; Meyen & Skrtic, 1995; Sorrells, Rieth & Sindelar, 2004; Stainback & Stainback, 1992) raised questions about how best to assure a quality and equitable education for students with disabilities and spawned the push for a more inclusive approach to special education programming. While these reforms were mandated in the United Nations Declarations and UNESCO’s Framework of Actions on special needs education of which Malaysia’s policy on inclusive education subscribes to, the focus on diagnosis, prescription, and intervention continued to be central to determining eligibility and making placement decisions. Thus, although special education practices had changed, the grounding assumptions of human pathology and organisational rationality (Biklen, 2000; Oliver, 1996; Skrtic, 1991) have not been critically examined. In this context, special education is used to maintain and legitimise exclusion of students with disabilities within a school culture and system characterised by competition and selection (Skrtic, 1995; Corbett, 1999; Slee, 2001; Kearney & Kane, 2006).

While the philosophical basis of including SEN students into mainstream schools is accepted as a policy, the continued legitimization of paradigms that exclude SEN students is also acknowledged by rationalising between the “ideal” and the “not-so-ideal” concept of inclusive education. This ambivalence is reinforced by the following statements: Prior to inclusion, especially in the early part of their formal education, SEN students are equipped with relevant basic skills and knowledge to enable them to cope with mainstream learning. Only those who are diagnosed capable to cope with mainstream learning would be included fully or partially. (MOE, 2004, p. 29)

In principle, Malaysia is committed to providing education for all with the implementation of compulsory education in 2003 as evident by a high participation rate of 98.49 per cent (MOE, 2004). This statement of intent towards compulsory education for all which was an amendment of the Education Act 1996, however, did not include children with disabilities

The radical perspective that leads to a reconceptualisation of special educational needs have been well documented for the past twenty years (Barton, 1988; Lipsky & Gartner, 1989; Ainscow, 1991; Fuchs & Fuchs, 1994; Clark et. al., 1998; Donoghue, 2003) and critiques argued and showed evidence how the education system creates rather than remediate disabilities (Skrtic, 1991; Corbett, 1999; Vlachou, 2004; Carrington & Robinson, 2006). The new perspective on special educational needs is based on the view that the way forward must be to reform schools in ways that will make them respond positively to pupil diversity, seeing individual differences as something to be nurtured. But, as cautioned by Ainscow (1994): This kind of approach is only possible in schools where there exist a respect for individuality and a culture of collaboration that encourages and supports problem-solving. Such cultures are likely to facilitate the learning of all pupils and, alongside them, the professional learning of all teachers. Ultimately, therefore, this line of argument makes the case that increasing equity is the key to improvements in schooling for all. (Ainscow, 1994, p12)

Education in Malaysia is driven largely by an examination–oriented system characterised by curriculum rigidity and rote learning rather than critical and independent thinking. Like schools in Singapore and Hong Kong (Poon-McBrayer, 2004), school leadership are in great pressure to compete for the best examination results in terms of the percentages of passes and the number of A’s acquired by students in public school examinations

The culture of elitism compels parents to prepare their children to be accepted into high ranking or fully residential schools which usually achieve high scores in examination results.

Although the ‘intertwining of the standards and inclusion agenda’ can lead to positive consequences (Ainscow et al, 2006), the emphasis on the preparation and drill for the public examinations therefore, left little or no time for teachers to accommodate individual learning needs of students in general. Media reports on schools’ and students’ performance intensify competition and further marginalise SEN students, who, to a large extent are not expected to compete. Competing priorities make it more difficult for schools to fully include children with SEN.

Continued advancement of special needs education in Malaysia will require bifocal perspectives. One focus has an international perspective and requires Malaysians’ awareness of the international body of literature and trends in practice that enables them to take advantage of the knowledge and experience gained by those in other countries. Malaysia may also profit especially from knowledge provided by its Asian neighbours namely Japan, India and China, or other countries that seems to be struggling with many of the same issues.

effective special needs education services require awareness of social and educational traditions, social philosophies that manifest in schooling and school culture and ways of resolving conflict that may be unique to one country and the impact these qualities have on general and special needs education services (Peters, 2003).

Essay Writing

Engage Peers Outside the Classroom

Select-and-Fill-In (SAFI) Concept Maps

Extemporaneous Speech

Group Discussion Web

Informal Debate with "Devil's Advocate"

Lincoln-Douglas Debate

Online Discussion

Rehearsed Speech

Role-Play Debate

Role Reversal and Compromise

Writing a Letter to a Political Figure

He picked up the lemons that Fate had sent him and started a lemonade-stand. Hubbard, Elbert (1922). Selected Writings of Elbert Hubbard. V. Wm. H. Wise & Co./The Roycrofters. p. 237. Often quoted as "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade"

If you want work well done, select a busy man ‚ the other kind has no time.

In these days, a man who says a thing cannot be done is quite apt to be interrupted by some idiot doing it.

I AM an Anarchist. All good men are Anarchists. All cultured, kindly men; all gentlemen; all just men are Anarchists. Jesus was an Anarchist.

If you err it is not for me to punish you. We are punished by our sins not for them.

No man who believes in force and violence is an Anarchist. The true Anarchist decries all influences save those of love and reason. Ideas are his only arms.

Being an Anarchist I am also a Socialist. Socialism is the antithesis of Anarchy. One is the North Pole of Truth, the other the South

If there is any better way to teach virtue than by practicing it, I do not know it.

Good people are only half as good, and bad people only half as bad, as other people regard them

An Anarchist is one who minds his own business. An Anarchist does not believe in sending warships across wide oceans to kill brown men, and lay waste rice fields, and burn the homes of people who are fighting for liberty. An Anarchist does not drive women with babes at their breasts and other women with babes unborn, children and old men into the jungle to be devoured by beasts or fever or fear, or die of hunger, homeless, unhouseled and undone. Destruction, violence, ravages, murder, are perpetrated by statute law. .

It is only life and love that give love and life.

To supply a thought is mental massage; but to evolve a thought of your own is an achievement. Thinking is a brain exercise — and no faculty grows save as it is exercised.

Do not go out of your way to do good whenever it comes your way. Men who make a business of doing good to others are apt to hate others in the same occupation. Simply be filled with the thought of good, and it will radiate — you do not have to bother about it, any more than you need trouble about your digestion.

Academic education is the act of memorizing things read in books, and things told by college professors who got their education mostly by memorizing things read in books.

A pessimist is a man who has been compelled to live with an optimist.

Making men live in three worlds at once — past, present and future has been the chief harm organized religion has done.

The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.

The way to learn to earn a living is to go at it and earn a living.

Woman's inaptitude for reasoning has not prevented her from arriving at truth; nor has man's ability to reason prevented him from floundering in absurdity.

Do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing, and you'll never be criticized.

They did not move very far away from where they originally stood. As I moved to the other side of the ship, in preparation for a jump when the right moment came, I called to him, "What are you going to do?" and he just shook his head, while Mrs. Hubbard smiled and said, "There does not seem to be anything to do." The expression seemed to produce action on the part of your father, for then he did one of the most dramatic things I ever saw done. He simply turned with Mrs. Hubbard and entered a room on the top deck, the door of which was open, and closed it behind him. It was apparent that his idea was that they should die together, and not risk being parted on going into the water.

it equally if not more important for those around you to understand it–family, job, school, friends. Once they get the concept they will be able to understand you much better and to help you as well.

Try to get rid of the negativity that may have infested your system if you have lived for years without knowing what you had was ADHD

Listen to feedback from trusted others. Adults (and children, too) with ADHD are notoriously poor self-observers. They use a lot of what can appear to be denial.

Consider joining or starting a support group

Give up guilt over high-stimulus-seeking behavior. Understand that you are drawn to high stimuli. Try to choose them wisely, rather than brooding over the “bad” ones.

Don’t feel chained to conventional careers or conventional ways of coping. Give yourself permission to be yourself. Give up trying to be the person you always thought you should be–the model student or the organized executive, for example–and let yourself be who you are.

what you have is a neuropsychiatric condition. It is genetically transmitted. It is caused by biology, by how your brain is wired. It is NOT a disease of the will, nor a moral failing. It is NOT caused by a weakness in character, nor by a failure to mature. It’s cure is not to be found in the power of the will, nor in punishment, nor in sacrifice, nor in pain. ALWAYS REMEMBER THIS. Try as they might, many people with ADHD have great trouble accepting the syndrome as being rooted in biology rather than weakness of character.

External structure. Structure is the hallmark of the non-pharmacological treatment of the ADHD child. It can be equally useful with adults. Tedious to set up, once in place structure works like the walls of the bobsled slide, keeping the speedball sled from careening off the track.

Make frequent use of: ◦    lists ◦    color-coding ◦    reminders ◦    notes to self ◦    rituals ◦    files

Color coding. Mentioned above, color-coding deserves emphasis. Many people with ADHD are visually oriented. Take advantage of this by making things memorable with color: files, memoranda, texts, schedules, etc. Virtually anything in the black and white of type can be made more memorable, arresting, and therefore attention-getting with color.

try to make your environment as peppy as you want it to be without letting it boil over.

Now that you have the freedom of adulthood, try to set things up so that you will not constantly be reminded of your limitations.

 Make deadlines.

 Break down large tasks into small ones. Attach deadlines to the small parts. Then, like magic, the large task will get done. This is one of the simplest and most powerful of all structuring devices. Often a large task will feel overwhelming to the person with ADHD. The mere thought of trying to perform the task makes one turn away. On the other hand, if the large task is broken down into small parts, each component may feel quite manageable.

Prioritize. Avoid procrastination. When things get busy, the adult ADHD person loses perspective: paying an unpaid parking ticket can feel as pressing as putting out the fire that just got started in the wastebasket. Prioritize. Take a deep breath. Put first things first. Procrastination is one of the hallmarks of adult ADHD. You have to really discipline yourself to watch out for it and avoid it.

Accept fear of things going well. Accept edginess when things are too easy, when there’s no conflict. Don’t gum things up just to make them more stimulating.

 Notice how and where you work best: in a noisy room, on the train, wrapped in three blankets, listening to music, whatever. Children and adults with ADHD can do their best under rather odd conditions. Let yourself work under whatever conditions are best for you.

it is O.K. to do two things at once: carry on a conversation and knit, or take a shower and do your best thinking, or jog and plan a business meeting. Often people with ADHD need to be doing several things at once in order to get anything done at all.

Do what you’re good at. Again, if it seems easy, that is O.K. There is no rule that says you can only do what you’re bad at.

Leave time between engagements to gather your thoughts. Transitions are difficult for ADHD’ers, and mini-breaks can help ease the transition.

Keep a notepad in your car, by your bed, and in your pocketbook or jacket. You never know when a good idea will hit you, or you’ll want to remember something else.

Read with a pen in hand, not only for marginal notes or underlining, but for the inevitable cascade of “other” thoughts that will occur to you.

Set aside some time in every week for just letting go

Recharge your batteries. Related to #30, most adults with ADHD need, on a daily basis, some time to waste without feeling guilty about it. One guilt-free way to conceptualize it is to call it time to recharge your batteries. Take a nap, watch T.V., meditate. Something calm, restful, at ease.

Many adults with ADHD have an addictive or compulsive personality such that they are always hooked on something. Try to make this something positive.

Understand mood changes and ways to manage these. Know that your moods will change willy-nilly, independent of what’s going on in the external world. Don’t waste your time ferreting out the reason why or looking for someone to blame. Focus rather on learning to tolerate a bad mood, knowing that it will pass, and learning strategies to make it pass sooner. Changing sets, i.e., getting involved with some new activity (preferably interactive) such as a conversation with a friend or a tennis game or reading a book will often help.

recognize the following cycle which is very common among adults with ADHD: Something “startles” your psychological system, a change or transition, a disappointment or even a success. The precipitant may be quite trivial. This “startle” is followed by a mini-panic with a sudden loss of perspective, the world being set topsy-turvy. You try to deal with this panic by falling into a mode of obsessing and ruminating over one or another aspect of the situation. This can last for hours, days, even months.

Plan scenarios to deal with the inevitable blahs. Have a list of friends to call. Have a few videos that always engross you and get your mind off things. Have ready access to exercise. Have a punching bag or pillow handy if there’s extra angry energy. Rehearse a few pep talks you can give yourself, like, “You’ve been here before. These are the ADHD blues. They will soon pass. You are O.K.”

Expect depression after success. People with ADHD commonly complain of feeling depressed, paradoxically, after a big success. This is because the high stimulus of the chase or the challenge or the preparation is over. The deed is done. Win or lose, the adult with ADHD misses the conflict, the high stimulus, and feels depressed.

 Use “time-outs” as with children. When you are upset or overstimulated, take a time-out. Go away. Calm down.

Learn how to advocate for yourself. Adults with ADHD are so used to being criticized, they are often unnecessarily defensive in putting their own case forward. Learn to get off the defensive.

Avoid premature closure of a project, a conflict, a deal, or a conversation. Don’t “cut to the chase” too soon, even though you’re itching to.

Try to let the successful moment last and be remembered, become sustaining over time. You’ll have to consciously and deliberately train yourself to do this because you’ll just as soon forget.

 Remember that ADHD usually includes a tendency to overfocus or hyperfocus at times. This hyperfocusing can be used constructively or destructively. Be aware of its destructive use: a tendency to obsess or ruminate over some imagined problem without being able to let it go.

 Exercise vigorously and regularly. You should schedule this into your life and stick with it. Exercise is positively one of the best treatments for ADHD. It helps work off excess energy and aggression in a positive way, it allows for noise-reduction within the mind, it stimulates the hormonal and neurochemical system in a most therapeutic way, and it soothes and calms the body. When you add all that to the well-known health benefits of exercise, you can see how important exercise is. Make it something fun so you can stick with it over the long haul, i.e., the rest of your life.

Learn to joke with yourself and others about your various symptoms, from forgetfulness, to getting lost all the time, to being tactless or impulsive, whatever. If you can be relaxed about it all to have a sense of humor, others will forgive you much more.

Make a good choice in a significant other. Obviously this is good advice for anyone. But it is striking how the adult with ADHD can thrive or flounder depending on the choice of mate.

Schedule activities with friends. Adhere to these schedules faithfully. It is crucial for you to keep connected to other people.

Find and join groups where you are liked, appreciated, understood, enjoyed. Conversely, don’t stay too long where you aren’t understood or appreciated.

Pay compliments. Notice other people. In general, get social training, as from your coach.

Set social deadlines.

There are many political and social implications to ‘help’ that we should constantly be mindful of as well. When someone in a position of power – political, financial, social, whatever – decides to help someone disadvantaged, the inequality between them, the same inequality that led to their respective positions in the first place, is both strengthened and made painfully visible.

when offering our help, even to those who seem to greatly need it, we need to be conscious of how we use the power that we just won over them.

Every group of people has differences of opinion among its members. These might be subtle differences, or they may be huge and insurmountable. It’s easy to mistakenly think that if you heard one perspective, or indeed ten perspectives, then you know the whole story, but that is never the case

Forcing one’s own idea of what another person or group of people need is not help. It is arrogance and audacity

Autism Speaks is actually a terrible source for information about autism, for various reasons, but in order to know that, one still has to do some amount of research. He would only then learn that quoting it as “the leading organization advocating for people on the autism spectrum” is so grossly inadequate as to invalidate all his further claims almost instantly

If you’re going to write about a large population, you must assume that such differences exist, and – this is crucial – you must actively seek out these differences. Don’t stop researching until you find a controversy, and then try and determine how deep rooted and widespread it is.

His attack is based on the premise that his critics represent a small few, an insignificant minority; that they were driven to criticise him under a false pretence (namely that his article was poorly sourced; an accusation that was a) absolutely true, and b) not even the main issue); and therefore can be – if not completely ignored – swiftly brushed aside. Let us look beyond his arrogance and unshakable self-conviction. Here’s the important thing: You don’t get to choose who represents the group you’re writing about. You’ve come across members of the group who feel you’re completely wrong in everything you say about them? They’re probably right. If you couldn’t anticipate their angered reaction, you’re obviously just not sufficiently familiar with the field to write about it.

“enough with this political correctness already! I should be allowed to call people what I want”. No you shouldn’t. And if you don’t understand why, you haven’t done your research, and you shouldn’t be writing about this group of people in the first place.

When a person with Asperger’s identifies as an Aspie, he or she is making a conscious choice – a political choice – to adopt the label of Asperger’s in a very particular way.  To raise certain connotations. To emphasize some aspects of their neurology; indeed of their being. It’s not up to us NTs to impose this label on everyone with an AS diagnosis. This is a discourse from which we are more or less excluded, and for good reasons. Similar (though different) examples exist in more or less every other minority group.

it’s been my experience that by far more people are offended by “person with autism”, than by “autistic person”. This is because the former implies that autism is something external to the person, while the latter implies that autism is an important part of who that person is. There is no consensus in this matter; but I’ve been given the impression that while some find “autistic” distasteful, few are offended by it. However, a great many people find “person with autism” extremely offensive, and I’ve been repeatedly told this was, in most cases, preferable. See, for example here and here

regardless of whether autism is seen as a disability or not, it is nearly always experienced by autistic people as an inseparable part of their very being, of who they are. To say autism should be prevented, is telling them you wish they had never been born. To hope for an autism cure, is telling them you would have chosen to have them killed and replaced by someone else entirely – if only you had the technology to do so. It is categorically hurtful, insulting, immoral and cruel. So… Just don’t do it.